Managing Your Research CareerBehavioral and Clinical Sciences

Derek Satre,PhD (Psychiatry) Derek.Satre@ucsf.edu

Heather Leutwyler, PhD (Nursing) Heather.Leutwyler@ucsf.edu

Jen Cocohoba, PharmD, MAS (Pharmacy) Jennifer.Cocohoba@ucsf.edu

UCSF Faculty Development DaySeptember 17, 2019

This session• Broad audience, various needs• Rationale for selecting topics• Asking questions, getting specific

Outline• Pearls: Finding mentors & collaborators • Pearls: Managing Time• Pearls: Building your research portfolio• UCSF resources

But first…introductions

• Name• Title/Division/School• Research interests/area• One thing you’re hoping

to get out of the session

Panelist Tips:Finding mentors and collaborators

Finding mentors• Establishing yourself in your Department

• Identify strong mentors • Consider discipline, expertise, track record of mentorship, track

record of funding• Multiple mentors to fulfill different needs• Inside and outside home department

• Ideally• Meet on a regular basis (at least quarterly)• Confidential conversations with active listening• Direct, honest, respectful feedback

Collaborators

• At UCSF (profiles.ucsf.edu)

• Connect at professional meetings and conferences

• Industry contacts• Community collaborators

Other potential collaborators• Primary care practice network: San Francisco Bay Area

Collaborative Research Network (SF Bay CRN)

• Industry: UCSF Office of Strategic Alliances

• Global health partners: Institute for global health sciences

• Community based organizations• Center for Community Engagement (University Community

Partnerships)• Community Based Participatory research toolkits prevention.ucsf.edu

Questions & discussion

Panelist Tips: Managing time to maximize research

Carving out your research time• Open discussion with chair/chief

– Expectations, desires, title series– Discuss approximate % time devoted to research,

teaching, clinical practice, administration

• Negotiate for protected time– Benefits to department– Expectations for funding

Time is your most valuable resource

• Always more to do than time available• No one else will protect your time• Time spent on one thing

= time not spent on another• Think about whether you would want to do

this tomorrow (not in the distant future)• Remember: you will feel just as busy later

Managing TimeImportant Not Important

Urgent A B

Not Urgent C D

• Hire help/delegate tasks whenever possible– Research assistants (hire carefully)– Pre-doctoral students & work study

(medical/dental/nursing/pharmacy/grad)– Post-doctoral fellows – Volunteers (foreign, undergrad, pre-med, SFSU, USF, UCB)

Some Time Management Strategies

Scheduling on your calendar• Schedule regular time for writing

– Even 15-30 min blocks can move things forward!– Specific: days, times and even places

• Schedule blocks of time to think

• Protect it– Turn off email and minimize other distractions

Making the most of your writing time• Make small weekly/monthly writing goals

– Itemize small, chunked-out writing tasks with estimated time for completion

– Grant: need to walk back 6-9 months from deadline!

• Shed perfectionistic tendencies

More Tidbits on Time & Writing• Collaborate with mentors, peers, postdoc fellows, students

• Discuss authorship/corresponding authorship early• Send email to confirm • Authorship can change if someone does not do their share

• Writing papers with trainees: depends on trainee, give a piece• Prep an outline & timeline• Have them write specific sections/figures/tables• Have them prepare the abstract• Have them give presentation of the work for proposed paper

Questions & discussion

Panelist Tips:Building Your Research Portfolio

Carefully Choose Research Topics

Importance

Feasibility

Junior Investigator

Senior Investigator

Mid-career Investigator

AVOID

Building a Research Portfolio cont.

• Create realistic 5 year plan that builds on itself- Some ideas not fundable (reasons other than science)

• Great when one grant can provide pilot data for the next

Getting started with data• Primary data collection/extraction

– http://data.ucsf.edu

• Secondary data analyses– Mentor’s data– Cohort study data– Large datasets at UCSF (via CTSI website)

Getting started with funding• Department support• Support on mentor’s grant carved out for project• Supplemental grants (to mentor’s)

• More “independent” funding– UCSF RAP program– Career development grants– Other Foundation/Industry grants

• UCSF programs: KL2 Career Development Awards and more at http://accelerate.ucsf.edu/funding

• NIH (K awards, Minority or R01 Supplements)

• VA Research & Development: http://www.research.va.gov/funding/

• Foundations: http://foundationcenter.org; http://www.cof.org/

• Societies: usually disease-specific

• Industry: (for example: http://www.pfizer.com/research/rd_partnering/investigator_initiated_research )

Career Development Grants

PIVOT Funding Database

Rigorously peer-reviewed grants demonstrate investigator independence and recognition

1. US govt research grants (NIH, DOD, VA, NSF)2. Foundation or society grants (e.g., American

Cancer Society, American Heart Association)3. Investigator-initiated research funded by industry 4. Industry-sponsored research funded by industryFunding is hard to get, diversify your portfolio,

apply to non-NIH sources too!

Get to Know: Grants administrationPre-award • Budgeting• Letters of support• Paperwork/signatures• Biosketches and other

support pages• Uploading documents• Internal deadlines

Post-award• Hiring and purchasing• Budget projections• Progress reports• Agency correspondence

Questions & discussion

A quick tour: UCSF resources

UCSF Resources

• CTSI (http://accelerate.ucsf.edu/)– Find mentors, collaborators– Research consulting and other services– Access to large (free!) databases– Tips on forming partnerships with community, industry– Resources for training in clinical research– Successful proposal library

UCSF Resources

• Clinical Research Resource (http://hub.ucsf.edu/)– Clinical trial management– Consent development– Working with industry– Guidance on regulatory issues, good clinical practice– Training resources– “tools, templates, guidance, go-to”

UCSF Resources

• UCSF Data (http://data.ucsf.edu/)– Request data for

clinical research

Office of Sponsored Researchhttp://osr.ucsf.edu/

UCSF Resources

• UCSF Research Development Office templates (http://guides.ucsf.edu/rdo/templates)– Helpful templates

for writing pieces of a grant

Last Panelist Advice:Managing Your Research Career

Q & A